RWers in "lockstep indignation" over Durbin, forget to get mad about

[Miss Chybil]

torture...

I just found this post on the MoJo Blog, (Mother Jones), and thought it was right on:

http://www.motherjones.com/mojoblog/index.html

"Better than Stalin!
Andrew Sullivan says the obvious about Dick Durbin. Kudos. Really, all the carping here reeks of disingenuousness. One can only assume that when Hugh Hewitt, Bill Kristol, and others whine and moan about Durbin's "treasonous statements," it means that they read this description by an FBI agent—


On a couple of occasions, I entered interview rooms to find a detainee chained hand and foot in a fetal position to the floor, with no chair, food, or water. Most times they urinated or defecated on themselves, and had been left there for 18-24 hours or more. On one occasion, the air conditioning had been turned down so far and the temperature was so cold in the room, that the barefooted detainee was shaking with cold... On another occasion, the had been turned off, making the temperature in the unventilated room well over 100 degrees. The detainee was almost unconscious on the floor, with a pile of hair next to him. He had apparently been literally pulling his hair out throughout the night. On another occasion, not only was the temperature unbearably hot, but extremely loud rap music was being played in the room, and had been since the day before, with the detainee chained hand and foot in the fetal position on the tile floor."

—and immediately thought that hey, this was the work of Americans! Not only that, but that this was as it should be, that this was the American way, rather than something that you might find in a gulag or elsewhere. Well that's charming, kids.

Meanwhile, right-wingers around the internet, in a lockstep fit of indignation, have all taken to look for one single Democrat who will denounce Durbin. Well, fine. I certainly have no brief for a senator from Illinois. I'd happily denounce him and say he shouldn't have used Nazi references if—oh yes, there's an "if" here—if conservatives will agree to start speaking out against torture. But so long as they refuse that, so long as they insist on being more "outraged by the outrage" rather than, you know, outraged by the up to 28 "confirmed or suspected homicides of detainees" that have occurred under American watch, there's no reason to take any of them seriously.

UPDATE: And oh yes, the insurgents in Iraq are far worse than we are. Yes, that should be pointed out. But it's still no excuse. (It's also worth noting that, as far as torture is concerned, the Sunni insurgents and foreign fighters don't seem all that much different from our ostensible allies in Baghdad.)

Posted by Bradford Plumer on 06/20/05 at 02:00 PM | Comments (1) | E-mail | Print "

This guy has an exellent talking point. Too bad so many right-wingers think, "Torture good. George Bush good. War good. War, me? Oh, no! War good, you!"

[90-percent]

1. talking point

Hasn't there been 110 deaths, by various causes, in American military prisons, since the start of the Afgan/Iraq Wars?

Not proveable murders, just deaths?

-85%

[AX10]

2. Interesting take from Sully.

Though, somehow I think that this torture has made Sully uncomfortable only because of the usage of "homosexuality" to demean the prisoners. Sully still has a history of supporting Bush. He likes "Enron-nomics" and Tax Cuts for the wealthiest. Economically, Sully is a Neo-Liberal who doesn't see beyond his own views and realize the damage being done by Bush's economic policies.

[LeftyDarthBrodie]

3. Right-wingnuts will denounce torture

when hell freezes over. Sorry for the cliche but thats what it will take. I expect a majority of them will admit global warming is real or evolution is actual science and did happen while "Intelligent Design" is just creationism in a new dress.

I've been pleasantly surprised with the fact that no Dems in Congress have denounced Durbin yet and that the Senators all stuck together, those that were there, and held Bolton back again yesterday.

Indeed the insurgents are far worse than we are and that should be the case. We should hold ourselves to higher standards than that as the self proclaimed "spreaders of democracy."

[ComerPerro]

4. That's the disturbing thing about Bush loyalists

They don't get upset about the atrocities.

They are upset about people who report them, and people who talk about them.

Best example was the whole Quran flushing incident.

They were concerned that such a story would make us "look bad". But they weren't angry at the White House for what was going on, and they don't even care if we torture prisoners.

They only got upset about it being reported.

[Miss Chybil]

6. Like the people who tear down "American Soldier Death Number" signs.

They seem to think it's bad to tell people how many of our guys are getting killed. Like they know it's for nothing and they don't want anybody to notice. I don't get these sickos. I really don't.

[ComerPerro]

8. Yeah, exactly. "Why are you reporting bad news, like deaths?"

"It makes me feel bad."

[Miss Chybil]

9. No, it's more like...

"If you report the deaths then people will be against the war."

How can anyone justify such a thought?

[ComerPerro]

10. Its really sick, yes.

[Karenina]

7. QUICK!!! Ban the cellphone cameras!

It's the American way!!! :evilgrin:

[kentuck]

5. They've been like that as long as I can remember...

Even during Watergate, they were not concerned about Nixon's illegalities, they were mostly concerned about the liberal media attacking "their" man...